S. Jennifer Panahi

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On May 19, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit) dismissed Cage Ranch Solar LLC’s and Cage Ranch Solar II, LLC’s (collectively, Cage Ranch) consolidated petitions for review of FERC orders denying Cage Ranch’s complaint and waiver request, which sought to set aside a deadline by which Southwest Power Pool, Inc.’s (SPP) tariff (Tariff) required Cage Ranch to post financial security for network upgrade costs to support its interconnection requests and maintain its queue position.  The DC Circuit dismissed the petitions for failure to demonstrate a concrete injury in fact necessary to establish Article III standing.

On April 16, 2026, FERC accepted in part and rejected in part PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (PJM) compliance filing proposing changes to PJM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff). FERC accepted PJM’s clarification of procedures for using new generating facilities to serve Co-Located Load but rejected revisions to the definition of “Co-Located Load” and PJM’s incorporation of such definition in specific Tariff sections. FERC ordered PJM to submit a further compliance filing by May 18, 2026.

On March 19, 2026, in Opinion No. 594, FERC issued a long-awaited decision in litigation about the base Return on Equity (ROE) to be earned by the New England Transmission Owners (NETOs). Previous iterations of the Commission had failed to address the 2017 remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) in Emera Maine v. FERC. FERC set the NETOs’ ROE at 9.57%. In addition to applying that new ROE going forward, FERC backdated the new rate to October 16, 2014, and ordered the NETOs to issue refunds with interest to implement that directive. FERC separately required refunds for the 15-month refund period from October 1, 2011, through December 31, 2012. FERC’s authority to backdate new rates under section 206 has been challenged in other cases recently.

On January 29, 2026, FERC accepted PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (PJM) revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff) to create a separate, fast‑track interconnection process for “Replacement Generation Resources” that assume Capacity Interconnection Rights (CIRs) from retiring generators. The new process is intended to bring replacement capacity online more quickly, limit how long CIRs sit unused, and run in parallel with PJM’s interconnection queue.

On December 29, 2025, FERC terminated the hydropower license for the 0.9-megawatt Au Train Hydroelectric Project (FERC Project No. 10856), located on the Au Train River in Alger County, Michigan (Termination Order). FERC concluded that termination of the license by “implied surrender” was warranted because the project’s licensee, UP Hydro, LLC (UP Hydro), had abandoned good-faith operation of the project through years of safety violations, loss of control over project lands, and financial collapse. The order ends more than two decades of federal oversight over the project and transfers regulatory authority to the State of Michigan to oversee the decommissioning of the dam.

On September 30, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) vacated and remanded FERC’s order approving a two-tiered fuel rate structure for Antero Resource Corporation’s (“Antero”) usage of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C.’s (“Tennessee Gas”) Broad Run Expansion Project (“Expansion Project”). The D.C. Circuit held FERC’s approval of the rate structure was arbitrary and capricious because it required Antero to always pay for the highest fuel rates irrespective of the segment’s actual operations.

In the latest chapter in a long-running saga dealing with certain credits for transmission upgrades in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), on September 18, 2025, FERC directed SPP to submit a compliance filing addressing certain aspects of SPP’s proposed plan (Refund Plan) for unwinding credit payment obligations assessed by SPP.

On August 25, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) granted NextEra Duane Arnold, LLC (“NEDA”) a waiver of certain sections of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“MISO”) tariff to use MISO’s generating facility replacement process for the recommissioning of the Duane Arnold nuclear power facility (“Project”) in Palo, Iowa. The order also extends the Project’s commercial operation date to December 31, 2029.

On July 11, 2025, the D.C. Circuit upheld PJM Interconnection L.L.C.’s (“PJM”) assessment of $12 million in penalties against Energy Harbor, LLC (“Energy Harbor”) for failing to perform when called upon by PJM during a major winter storm in December 2022. The D.C. Circuit held that PJM-approved maintenance at Energy Harbor’s coal-fired generation facility, the W.H. Sammis Plant (“Sammis Plant”), was not the sole cause of the Sammis Plant’s nonperformance, and therefore Energy Harbor was not excepted from penalties under PJM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”).

On June 18, 2025, FERC temporarily raised the cost limits for blanket certificate natural gas pipeline projects constructed and placed into service by May 31, 2027, from $41 million to $61.65 million. Citing what it called a pressing nationwide near-term demand for expanded natural gas transportation capacity and reliability concerns…